Cheney task force seeks input from interest groups

Published: Monday, May 14, 2001

SHARON THEIMERAssociated Press Writer

WASHINGTON {AP} The White House team developing a national energy plan has met with more than 130 interest groups, from environmentalists and unions often at odds with Republicans to major Bush supporters given private sessions with Vice President Dick Cheney.

The vice president, Cabinet secretaries and others on a special task force have solicited ideas behind closed doors, hoping the privacy would encourage a free exchange of ideas.

The White House has declined to provide names of participants  even to Congress.

But interviews with participants detail a massive outreach where diverse interests have met with task force executive director Andrew Lundquist. Cheney's time has been reserved for meetings with more select participants such as power wholesaler Enron Corp. and the Edison Electric Institute, both GOP donors.

"The way the task force is set up, they don't have the staff or time to have a huge host of companies come through the door. They have told us to work through our associations to the extent we can," said Don Duncan, vice president of government relations for Phillips Petroleum Co.

Participants said the meetings, typically 20 minutes to 45 minutes, included about a dozen to 100 interest group members and a few task force members and staff.

No details were disclosed. Instead, administration representatives summarized the nation's energy problems or listened as groups briefly offered background and proposals. Many sent detailed materials to the task force outlining their priorities.

At a half-hour meeting in late March with White House strategist Karl Rove and Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey, nuclear energy executives tried to make sure the two knew about the production records the industry has set over the past few years. At one point, Rove asked if anyone was looking to build a nuclear power plant. An executive with Exelon replied that his company was thinking about it, meeting participants said.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham has attended several meetings, including one with Teamsters President James Hoffa and an hourlong session in California with Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who contends the administration has done little to help the power-strapped state.

Like other governors, Davis was asked to provide one page on the state's power crisis, including a description of the problem, an anecdote about it and possible solutions.

"They're asking for a one-page memo on possibly the biggest crisis ever affecting the state, with a massive ripple effect for the nation," Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio said. "I think it demands more attention than a one-page memo."

Cheney spokeswoman Juleanna Glover Weiss said the task force has been studying the California problem almost daily.

At a meeting between Abraham and about 100 coal industry representatives in late April, task force staffers handed out a briefing packet that outlined national energy needs, and then they listened to industry proposals.

"I thought the purpose was one, to reassure people in the coal industry that coal was going to play a large role in the energy mix, and essentially when the plan is unveiled that they're going to be looking to people to help martial this through Congress," said Bill Banig, a lobbyist for the United Mineworkers Union.

White House officials said the meetings are not designed to encourage lobbying and that task force members were carefully instructed on what was permissible under federal law.

Cheney's meetings included Enron, Edison Electric Institute, California Republicans, and the senators from Nevada, home to the proposed Yucca Mountain federal nuclear waste site. The vice president plans to meet with the renewable-energy industry this week.

Enron ranked among Bush's top 10 presidential campaign contributors, giving more than $110,000, and helped sponsor a $7 million party fund-raiser last month.

The Edison Electric Institute gave Republican candidates more than two-thirds of its $193,000 in contributions last year. Edison International, whose holdings include the Southern California Edison electric utility, is also a major donor, giving $535,000 to Republicans last year and $330,000 to Democrats.

Enron spokesman Mark Palmer said Cheney met with Enron executives because the power wholesaler is a respected member of the industry, not because it was a contributor. Enron wants the administration's energy plan to ease electricity transmission bottlenecks, give companies incentives to invest in new transmission and make the wholesale power market as open as possible, he said.

Tom Kuhn, the institute's president, said it is "totally ludicrous" to think political donations played a role.

Cheney's meeting with Edison board members, held at the institute's invitation, lasted 15 minutes to 20 minutes. Cheney spoke about the task force process, Kuhn said. He said Cheney's remarks were consistent with the vice president's public statements.

Edison wants to see new generation and transmission systems built, including coal, natural gas and nuclear and hydroelectric power, Kuhn said.

Democrats in Congress sought a list of participants in the meetings, but Cheney's office responded by only listing broad categories and no names. That has left fodder for political attack.

"You can't just take advice from one interest group or set of interest groups when you do these things," said Dave Albersworth of the Wilderness Society, whose group has met with Lundquist but was denied its request to talk with Cheney.

Weiss countered that the energy task force has collected information from more than 130 groups since January in an "almost Herculean effort" to draw input from all sides.

"People deserve the right to petition their government and not expect a full laundry list of who's called to be announced," she said.

Enron spokesman Palmer said he is not seeking such privacy. "I'm happy to tell people what we're advocating for. I'd rather be talking about policy than about politics," he said.